New Shin Getter Robo OAVs: for REAL men [TOO MANLY FOR WORK]

[Daryl Surat]

WARNING: IF YOU CAN'T HANDLE MANLY CARTOONS PLEASE STOP READING NOW



I've just watched raws of the first two episodes of the new Shin Getter Robo OAV series ("Ryoma Goes" and "Hayato Comes"). The next two episodes come out next month. Here's what I got out of it, bearing in mind that I speak no Japanese:

As is standard for all the modern Go Nagai remakes, this one's not related to any of the others continuity-wise, not even the previous OAV series that was also named Shin Getter Robo. So just jump on in and don't worry about needing to know anything prior. First thing you notice: even though it's airing on Japanese pay-per-view at the rate of two episodes a month, this is definitely an OAV series (direct-to-video/DVD). Hardly a moment goes by without someone getting beaten, stabbed, cut, or pulverized into a bloody mist. A refreshing change of pace, since the near-extinction of anime OAVs has meant that most anime made these days skirt around the violence factor by having characters turn to dust or shatter or die offscreen.

For this latest incarnation of Getter Robo, our hero Ryoma Nagare is a man--that's right, a MAN, Go Nagai doesn't bother with making his heroes whiny adolescents--who seems to be having trouble with the local yakuza, the likes of whom appear to include Big Jim Slade from Kentucky Fried Movie:



After meeting Dr. Saotome for the first time, he's quickly introduced to the Bad Guys (TM). Since previous Go Nagai Getter Robo shows have involved the heroes fighting against invaders from outer space and reptilians living in the center of the Earth, the villains for this series are the Oni, an assortment of demons who are set on destroying the Earth for...whatever reasons bad guys in robot shows have. In true Highlander fashion, the Oni can only be killed by decapitation or other varied forms of cranial destruction, which means we're treated to lots of brains splattering about from both humans and Oni alike:



Oh yeah, and Jin Hayato has abandoned being the cool leader/second-in-command type in favor of being a crazed criminal who seems to know some form of Nanto Seiken for this iteration of the series, so that also contributes to the violence factor:



Now, some of these Oni characters are REALLY big, and for large-scale evisceration jobs like those, you need a robot. Robots with voice activated controls for whom being a skilled pilot doesn't depend on years of training so much as being unimaginably strong the way characters in Go Nagai and Yasuhiro Imagawa shows always are. GETTER TOMAHAWK!



Whether or not Jack and Mary King with their Too Much High Power Man Cannon will make an appearance remains to be seen. We haven't even gotten the Getter Team together yet, and after two episodes Ryoma has yet to scream GETTER BEAM even once, which when compared to the rate at which he says that in the various "vs" movies (once every five seconds) is quite shocking indeed.

So if you're sick of all the sterilized "action" shows as of late, or robot shows where the hero is some spineless kid wrapped in a blanket of emo angst CRAP, then this is the show for you. Hopefully ADV will license this, though I don't know if the original Getter Robo OAVs sold well enough to justify picking this up. I mean, they passed on Shin Getter Robo vs Neo Getter Robo. Something tells me they'll be more apt to pick up the upcoming Cutey Honey series than this.

Even the kid touchers don't seem too interested in this one; heck, StormD had to fire up Winny (what used to be the Japanese WinMX) to find the raws of this show since nobody bothered to Torrent them or post them to Usenet.

Similar thing happened to this other show I thought was pretty cool...
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Anime World Order: my podcast about Japanese cartoons and comicbooks. Yeah, this is about as nerdy as life gets.

[oogi2000]

ADV Films. Someone. Get this and Shin Getter Vs Neo Getter Robo now.

It is like a wet dream for me.

[Cmndr. X]

Just looking at those stills put more hair on my chest and made me feel taller and stronger.

American Whiteboy Otaku!

Tired of getting sand kicked in your face at the beach, if maybe you could go to the beach if you didn't burn easily and weren't afraid of daylight?

No longer be THAT 98 pound weakling!

Discard most of the recent crop of sterilized anime TV shows that feature nothing but cheap, unstylish action to save what little money was in the budget! Toss out those shows trying to be all mysterious and crap! Away with those damn shows with maids and harems and catgirls!

GET WITH THE GO NAGAI PROGRAM!

Studies proved by famous doctors whose names we cannot reveal here prove that just watching any Go Nagai or Nagai based cartoon show melts away beer/Jolt Cola/Cheetos gut by 15% within the first few days and starts to tone your musculature!

Note:Do not attempt with Violence Jack, Shuten Doji, Iron Virgin Jun, and others to be listed in hard to read fine print.

Triple daily viewings of such fare as Shin Getter Robo and Shin Getter Vs Neo Getter Robo and Mazinger coupled with our special diet and exercise regimine will have you so pumped up you'll be out on the beach, beating the crap out of those no-necks who used to push you around with excessive force. Then you'll start responding to many common everyday occurences with unwarranted and over the top aggression to the point where police officers have to put you down after you go on a pumped up skull crushing automobile tossing rampage that only 54 bullets will put an end to.

So keep it down to twice daily viewings, all right?

[StormD]

Surat neglected to post the best Hayato cell ever, taken from the scene where he contintued to beat that guy whose ears he poked off well past the point where he was dead dead dead (god this edition of Hayato is bent, like fucking):



Edit: I pray to Jesus that Texas Mack is in this show.
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[Tsukasa]

Looks interesting. Loved the other Mazinger series, except I've never seen the first Mazinger Z.
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The eternal conundrum "what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object" was finally solved when Vin Diesel punched himself in the face.

[Darkseid]

Very nice. Like to get my hands on this and Mazinkaiser Vs. The Black General to use in a super robot block (among others. ^^)
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I like moe, but prefer shemp...

[Gilgamesh76]

Yes! oh hell yes! If ADV knows whats good for them, they'll pick up the rights to something like this. Anime like this was made for my taste.

Hopefully, someone will at least do a you know what version until we can get ahold of the real thing.

Edit:Gordie Howl ? Real cute.

[Tsukasa]

I still want a you know what or official release of Xabungle

This looks really good, though.
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The eternal conundrum "what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object" was finally solved when Vin Diesel punched himself in the face.

[Melvin]

And if you wanna see the latest incarnation of Musashi/Benkei, check out my thread I posted a month ago. Should be around the second or third page.

Well, I'm dissapointed that Hayato has gone from a quiet badass to a crazed badass. But I've certainly changed my mind about the Shin Getter Robo-ish look of Getter Robo, with more flowing curves and all that.

And as for all the violence - I always like violence if Go Nagai is involved.

Also makes me wonder how Musashi is going to die.

[oogi2000]

Remember to see The Ninja Dragon! Nagai's own Live Action film! Catch his cameo in Toxic Avenger II!

[Melvin]

Something else I'm sure we're all dying to know - DRAGON by Jam Project. How is it?

[Daryl Surat]

Darkseid, I've got an English subbed copy of Mazinkaizer: Death! The Great General of Darkness (as they call it) if you need it. Also got a sub of the old Grendizer / Getter Robo G / Great Mazinger: All Out Battle! Great Sea Monster!, and some Spanish group did dual audio (Japanese + Spanish audio, English + Spanish subtitles) encodes of Great Mazinger vs Grendizer AND Great Mazinger vs Getter Robo (what, no Grendizer vs Getter Robo?! And I know Corn Pone Subs never lies, but where's Devilman vs Mazinger Z?!), but the English subtitles on those could use a bit of cleanup. Not like these things NEED subtitles anyway; you showed some of those raw at AWAs past and nobody in the room seemed to mind.

[Mike Toole]

[Melvin]

Just reposting the big image I showed off in my old thread so you can all see Musashibou Benkei. That's seriously what they're calling him.

[StormD]

BTW, the lower left of that image is an ad for Panda-Z which is pretty cool. It's a series of 5-minute silent shorts, depicting the ultra-cute battles of Panda-Z, piloted by a panda named Talon, who is defending the lovable ROBONIMAL Land against an invasion orchestrated by the sinister President Skull Panda of the BADIMAL Empire (the kana is actually Warunimal, a conjunction of warui, or bad, and animal). There's a Gordie out there, already, if you can't wait for a US release (if this is even likely...would be kind of difficult to market as a stand-alone thing). Even if you can only get the raw version somehow, it's ridiculously simple to follow, since the OP song is in English, and other than a few short text-captions in Japanese that flesh out the exposition, there's no dialogue at all.

I will say that it's a pity they didn't name this robot (Mougyou) "COW-Gaigar"...

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[Gen Fukunaga]

PLease explain what Gordie Howe is

[Mike Toole]

[Young Freud]

[Mike Toole]

[Tsukasa]

I'm sorry Mike, but I couldn't stop laughing when reading that post.
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The eternal conundrum "what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object" was finally solved when Vin Diesel punched himself in the face.

[Gen Fukunaga]

That post was Gordie Howe a licious

[StormD]

[svennex]

The "Great sea-monster" was disapointing IMO. The action was prety lame compared to "Grendizer vs Great Mazinger". Plus the cast was too big.
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If a country can't save itself through the volunteer service of its own free people, then I say: Let the damned thing go down the drain! - Robert Heinlein

[Melvin]

I saw Panda-Z's first episode only a few days ago - pretty damn good, especially because it had VOYAGER for the OP, which I've never heard before.

The Great Sea Monster was okay... The opening music was pretty good, and it was funny as hell to see Boss get
Spoiler:

eaten

like he usually does.

[Darkseid]

I'm still trying to figure out how Boss manages to stay alive while Musashi keeps managing to die repeatedly. Whatta world. @_@
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I like moe, but prefer shemp...